Riverbank residents will vote on housing expansion in 2026. Here’s what’s planned to west
Riverbank voters will wait until November 2026 to consider whether the city should expand to the west.
The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to accept a ballot petition from opponents of the 2,400-home River Walk project. It would stretch Riverbank to McHenry Avenue north of Modesto.
Supporters say River Walk would provide badly needed houses and apartments for a range of ages. Critics argue that the site is prime farmland and that Riverbank has plenty of approved home sites within its current boundaries.
The deadline for the November 2024 ballot was a month ago, so the measure will be part of the next regular election two years hence. Council members balked at holding a special election sooner because of the $50,000-plus cost.
The measure would not affect River Walk directly. Rather, voters will decide whether to give themselves veto power over future council approvals of westward growth plans.
The leaders in the signature drive include Garry Pearson, who lives in Riverbank and also farms in the area. “This is an extremely important matter to the city and to our future,” he told the council Tuesday.
Homes were announced three years ago
River Walk was proposed in 2021 but is still going through the process. A draft environmental impact report was released in January, detailing possible effects on farmland, traffic, water and other concerns. A consultant is now working on a final report addressing the public comments. The timeline has not been announced.
The project would go first to the Riverbank Planning Commission for a recommendation on how the City Council should vote. It also would need consent from the Stanislaus Local Agency Formation Commission, which rules on annexations.
River Walk could get past these hurdles before city residents decide in November 2026 on the veto-power measure. But other steps could come later, such as approval of home designs for each neighborhood.
The ballot language said the measure would apply to any council decisions on “a comprehensive development plan, specific plan or other plan or zoning designation that authorizes or facilitates conversion of agricultural land or open space to urban uses ...”
Placing the initiative on the ballot was one of three options under state law. The council also could have enacted the measure immediately, without voter approval, or ordered a staff report on the effects of limiting development. No member suggested doing either of these.
First ballot drive fell short
This was the second signature drive by the River Walk opponents, a group called Voters for Farmland. The first failed in January after too many invalid names were found on the petition submitted to county Clerk-Recorder Donna Linder.
State law requires signatures from at least 10% of the registered voters in Riverbank, or 1,305. The second petition drew 1,544, City Clerk Gabriela Hernandez told the council Tuesday.
The measure would apply to most home projects beyond the current western limit, about halfway between Coffee and Oakdale roads. It would exempt those for farm workers, as well as projects aimed at meeting a state mandate for low-income housing.
River Walk would take up about two-thirds of a 1,522-acre annexation bounded by McHenry Avenue, Patterson Road and the Stanislaus River. The rest would be deferred for future development decisions.
The proposal involves land owned by numerous farmers in this zone. It includes:
- 1,550 low-density homes, up to eight per acre, on a total of 467 acres
- 702 medium-density homes, up to 16 per acre, on a total of 79 acres
- 180 high-density homes, averaging 18 per acre, on a total of 10 acres
- 72 acres of mixed use
- 69 acres of open space near the river
- 177 acres of parkland and other open space.
Roads, water and other issues get study
River Walk proponents have said the project would not worsen traffic or burden the city’s water system or other services. They also note that LAFCO would require preservation of a like amount of farmland elsewhere to make up for the loss.
Opponents have said the River Wall site has soil especially well-suited to groundwater recharge during storms. They also noted that Riverbank has more than 6,000 home sites in already-annexed areas. Most of the current building is near the Crossroads shopping center in the southwest corner of town.
Mayor Richard O’Brien has said that he has a general dislike for land-use planning through the ballot box. Before voting Tuesday to place the 2026 measure, he said he recently encountered a signature gatherer who falsely claimed that Riverbank’s sewage treatment system was overburdened.
“I would like to see it go forward to the voters and have a balanced amount of information,” O’Brien said.
This story was originally published September 11, 2024 at 4:00 PM.
